Page 24 of Happy Wife

I knew it was a terrible idea. But I still wanted to kiss him. Just once. Just to know what it felt like.

So I leaned in, closing the last inch between us. His lips were soft and warm, and the fluttering in my stomach turned into a heat that spread through my entire body.

Hot Mean Lawyer is fucking edible. Shit.

—

It wasn’t until the next morning that I realized he lived in a massive house not too far from the bar. He hadn’t bothered to give me a grand tour. Instead, we fell through his front door. A tangled ball of lusty energy and fists in hair. Somewhere in his foyer, I had feverishly unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it off to reveal a well-toned upper body.

But he slowed things down as he led me up to his palatial master suite, where he kissed every inch of my body, peeling off the Anthropologie number. It was a foreign experience to be with someone like Will—someone older—who was in no rush. Helikedthe foreplay.

You go to bed with the Hot Mean Lawyer on the first date. Trust me on this. You just do.

My skin heated under his touch—every nerve ending keenly,maddeningly alert. I felt worshipped, possessed even. I was so aware of the heat building in the center of me—and he was, too. When he knew I wasn’t going to last much longer, even then, it was purposeful.

I’m ruined.

The orgasm rippled through my body in a way that I wouldn’t have thought was possible, and I was pretty sure I’d never experience it again.

As we both fell back in his bed, I held my breath a little. I knew from previous trysts, this was where things could get weird. I prepared myself for Will to start awkwardly distancing himselffrom me or worse, professing his love or bursting into tears or something. But he just looked over at me in bed, sated and a little starry-eyed, and said, “You are really beautiful. You know that?”

Sometime soon, I will walk-of-shame my way out of his place and I might never see him again. But there isn’t a doubt in my mind that I will fantasize about this night for the rest of my life.

I blushed a little as I looked around the room. “Whatisthis place? Do you live in a luxury hotel?”

“Sorry it’s not a cot in the back of a restaurant.” He propped himself up on his bent arm, watching me carefully, like he was studying me.

“I’m sure the cot has its advantages. Like fast access to snacks.” I sat up, sheet wrapped around my chest, and took in the room. There was a row of windows that looked out over the lake, and I could see lights from surrounding docks. “It must be a dream to watch the sunrise from here.” I didn’t bother to hide the awe in my voice.

“Come here.” He pulled me back down into the warmth of his arms.

And the feeling of his chest on my bare skin was all it took. We were back to that feeling from the booth at the bar, from the car ride to his place. I was breathless and lust-drunk. He was tugging at my hips. Around the time the edges of dawn started to eclipse the night, we finally fell asleep, intertwined limbs and sheets all wrapped up in the center of the bed. And all I could think was that I would give anything to do it all over again.

—

I was treated to my first taste of the Winter Park gossip mill a week later when I noticed a pack of moms at the club watching me much more closely than usual. Quinn was practicing her freestyle, and their appraising eyes followed me up and down the length of the pool as she and I worked through her lesson.

“Do I have something on my face?” I finally asked her as we reached the shallow end for a break.

Quinn looked me over. “I don’t think so.”

“Feels like people are staring.”

She just shrugged and said, “Maybe it’s because my mom says you went on a date with Mr. Somerset.”

My cheeks flushed as I looked back at the moms. Thanks to my sunglasses, I was able to take a longer look without them noticing me staring. I could see it now. The judgmental “Her?” glare in their eyes. And as I scanned their faces, I recognized one of them. The woman from the couple Will had been talking to when I walked up for our date. She was in the middle of some kind of monologue with her audience, sneaking discreet glances my way here and there.

“Do you like-like him?” Quinn asked, drawing my attention back to her.

“If I tell you, are you going to go tell all of them?”

She flashed a cheeky grin. “Are you going on another date with him?”

“A lady doesn’t kiss and tell.”

“Bo-ring.”

“Come on,” I said. “Let’s get a Diet Coke. My treat this time.”

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